By: Li Novak
Smederevska Palanka, Aug.7, 2009 ,(Serbia Today) - Smederevska Palanka is a small town, similar to other small towns in Serbia, with similar problems: unemployment, lack of opportunities for young people and a large number of bankrupt, state-run companies.
While many educated young people are unemployed, the adds "Worker needed" could often be seen posted on billboards along the main street.
Radomir Ivanovic is the director of the company "Mega Market“. He told Serbia Today about his experiences with the employment of workers, from the employer's point of view: "Our company has 55 employees, mostly salesmen and butchers. We are a successful company, and salaries are on the level of average or above it. However, it is not easy to find good employees."
In Ivanovic’s opinion, young people, through their education, are not well trained for the future profession and the usual working conditions. In few cases, the apprentice dropped out, after working for less than a month. On the other hand, there are workers who accept a job without asking any questions and they agree to all conditions, because they do not have any other source of income. Some complain about working conditions, says Ivanovic.
Certain number of workers are subsidized by the National Employment Service, but that is not enough to solve the problem, because some business profiles are insufficient. For example, in the records of National Employment Service there are not enough sales trainees for the city needs.
Both, employers and young people seeking jobs are unsatisfied. For some professions, for example psychology or philosophy, there are almost no business opportunities.
It seems that the biggest problem of all is low average wage. In most boutiques, kiosks and shops, one can earn only 10,000 RSD, which is not enough to stimulate a young man to work.
Jelena R. is a graduate psychologist. After graduation, she soon realized that in her hometown, Smederevska Palanka, there were no jobs in her line of work, so she found a job in another district. She travels more than a few miles to her work, every day. Milos M. lives in Smederevska Palanka, but works in Belgrade. He claims that there are not many young people who really want to work and that the problem is lack of effort. They are not motivated by existing working conditions, so they often remain at home, allowing parents to financially support them.
However, there are positive examples of young educated people who have successfully started their own businesses. If we want more of such examples, it is necessary to encourage and support the processing of good ideas.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Problems with Renting An Apartment in Belgrade
By: Li Novak
Belgrade, Aug.13 ,2009 (Serbia Today)- There are about 100 000 people subleasing apartments in Belgrade, most of them, students. When looking for a place to rent, one can experience number of inconveniences and technical difficulties.
The best and the easiest way to find an apartment is through friends or some kind of recommendation. Otherwise, those seeking an apartment are left with ads in local newspapers or agencies that charge brokers’ fees for their services. These agencies are usually behind 85 % of all ads. If one chooses a cheaper way, ignores the agencies and looks for a place alone, a lot of time will be lost on the telephone, since the ads do not specify if the offer is private, and a direct contact with a landlord can prove itself to be more than difficult.
Attractive advertisements like a 2 bedrooms apartment in the center of the city for only 150 EU, are often not true, and serve only to connect a client to the agency, looking for a provision. In reality, a one bedroom apartment in the center can not be found under 250 EU while for a 2 bedrooms, 400 EU is a minimal price. If one decides to look away from the center, like in a New Belgrade, finding a small apartment is impossible since there are almost none, so 250 EU is the price.
Most landlords also demand a deposit, usually as high as one month’s rent. All together with a provision taken by the agency, the price reaches well above the average income in Serbia. Most agencies, take their provision with a job done; however some take money in advance even though they often fail finding the appropriate apartment that the client was expecting, in which case he/she is repeatedly offered apartments they don’t desire until they find themselves giving up.
“Finding a place to live is very hard”, says a student from Cacak who has already changed 4 apartments. “It’s unbelievable what people are offering and charging for, these days. Broken furniture, windows that don’t work properly, or a landlord, living in the same accommodation with no doors between rooms.” she says. Because of that, she is very frustrated and often, for this reason, has difficulty concentrating on her studies.
The married couple from Velika Plana with a 3 year old daughter, complain that having a kid is a serious handicap when looking for a place to rent. Some landlords simply refuse to rent an apartment when there are kids involved. Kids mean trouble, they say, they are loud, brake things and are often spoiled. This family lived like this for almost 10 years. Not easy with a kid, they say.
The student of Philological University of Belgrade says that, with her parents having very low income, she can only afford a room with a landlord present, which causes her number of inconveniences. “They often behave as if I am not paying, as if they are doing me a favor”, she says. “They count how many times I take a shower, decide if I can have a friend over or comment what time I came back last night. Once, I was even asked to leave straight away, without prior notice.”
The best solution is having a rental agreement; which can also be difficult, because landlords want to avoid paying taxes on their capital income. Students usually join together and rent apartments with roommates. That way they can have a place to themselves and split all the bills. Altogether, buying your own place can prove to be the best idea, even with today’s high loan prices.
Belgrade, Aug.13 ,2009 (Serbia Today)- There are about 100 000 people subleasing apartments in Belgrade, most of them, students. When looking for a place to rent, one can experience number of inconveniences and technical difficulties.
The best and the easiest way to find an apartment is through friends or some kind of recommendation. Otherwise, those seeking an apartment are left with ads in local newspapers or agencies that charge brokers’ fees for their services. These agencies are usually behind 85 % of all ads. If one chooses a cheaper way, ignores the agencies and looks for a place alone, a lot of time will be lost on the telephone, since the ads do not specify if the offer is private, and a direct contact with a landlord can prove itself to be more than difficult.
Attractive advertisements like a 2 bedrooms apartment in the center of the city for only 150 EU, are often not true, and serve only to connect a client to the agency, looking for a provision. In reality, a one bedroom apartment in the center can not be found under 250 EU while for a 2 bedrooms, 400 EU is a minimal price. If one decides to look away from the center, like in a New Belgrade, finding a small apartment is impossible since there are almost none, so 250 EU is the price.
Most landlords also demand a deposit, usually as high as one month’s rent. All together with a provision taken by the agency, the price reaches well above the average income in Serbia. Most agencies, take their provision with a job done; however some take money in advance even though they often fail finding the appropriate apartment that the client was expecting, in which case he/she is repeatedly offered apartments they don’t desire until they find themselves giving up.
“Finding a place to live is very hard”, says a student from Cacak who has already changed 4 apartments. “It’s unbelievable what people are offering and charging for, these days. Broken furniture, windows that don’t work properly, or a landlord, living in the same accommodation with no doors between rooms.” she says. Because of that, she is very frustrated and often, for this reason, has difficulty concentrating on her studies.
The married couple from Velika Plana with a 3 year old daughter, complain that having a kid is a serious handicap when looking for a place to rent. Some landlords simply refuse to rent an apartment when there are kids involved. Kids mean trouble, they say, they are loud, brake things and are often spoiled. This family lived like this for almost 10 years. Not easy with a kid, they say.
The student of Philological University of Belgrade says that, with her parents having very low income, she can only afford a room with a landlord present, which causes her number of inconveniences. “They often behave as if I am not paying, as if they are doing me a favor”, she says. “They count how many times I take a shower, decide if I can have a friend over or comment what time I came back last night. Once, I was even asked to leave straight away, without prior notice.”
The best solution is having a rental agreement; which can also be difficult, because landlords want to avoid paying taxes on their capital income. Students usually join together and rent apartments with roommates. That way they can have a place to themselves and split all the bills. Altogether, buying your own place can prove to be the best idea, even with today’s high loan prices.
Spa and Wellness Centers in Belgrade
By: Lola Tapuskovic
Belgrade, Aug.25 , 2009,(Serbia Today) - The need to take care of one owns body and health, culminated in the 20th century with the appearance of beauty salons and fitness centers.
The first Spa centers were opened in Belgrade few years ago. They took an example by other European cities health resorts. The Spa centers were supposed to be places in which everyone could relax and find relief from every day’s stress, while taking care of their bodies. All programs in it are adapted to trends of western and eastern culture.
Spa centers are open seven days a week, and they are based on very high standards. Spa offer contains different cosmetic and body treatments with healthy Dead Sea mud, sea weeds, aloe, herbal Botox, essential oils, etc. The most wanted offers are hydro massage, steam bathroom, spa massage, spa treatment, body and face peeling, Air brushing (Danish method for making skin darker, made of aloe, vitamin B and herbal essentials) , electro stimulants and standard cosmetic offers like pedicure, manicure and depilation. The steam bathroom is a good way to relax and detoxify the organism. In Spa centers is very popular to use some eucalyptus, mint and lavender oils during this treatment like aroma therapy. Of all Spa treatments, the most popular are: a king massage, massage with volcano rocks, massage with hot chocolate, face massage with crystals, and face massage with caviar. Few months ago started a Cleopatra treatment, which is a milk bath.
In contrast to Spa centers, which are devoted to relax the body and organism, Wellness centers give chance to everyone to shape their bodies as they like. Common thing for those two kinds of centers is individual work, recommendation of healthy nutrition and drinking of lot of water.
Wellness centers are different because of different body care – they recommend recreation, relaxation and revitalization of organism. There are programs for shaping the body, slimming programs and programs for getting in good shape. Most of wellness centers have modern accessories for trainings, rooms for aerobics, biking, Pilates (which is very popular in Serbia), Finnish sauna, swimming pools, etc. Everything is under control of a fitness trainer, aerobics instructor, physiotherapist, doctor and nutritionist who can advise you how to change your nutrition.
In most cases, Wellness and Spa centers are connected, and depending on your mood or need, you can choose what kind of relaxation you want. The membership fee is paid for one year, six or one month. That means that number of members is selected in those centers.
Last few years it is really hard to reserve a treatment in some of those centers, famous by its quality, in spite of the fact that the number of centers is growing. That only shows that they are necessary for citizens of Belgrade.
Belgrade, Aug.25 , 2009,(Serbia Today) - The need to take care of one owns body and health, culminated in the 20th century with the appearance of beauty salons and fitness centers.
The first Spa centers were opened in Belgrade few years ago. They took an example by other European cities health resorts. The Spa centers were supposed to be places in which everyone could relax and find relief from every day’s stress, while taking care of their bodies. All programs in it are adapted to trends of western and eastern culture.
Spa centers are open seven days a week, and they are based on very high standards. Spa offer contains different cosmetic and body treatments with healthy Dead Sea mud, sea weeds, aloe, herbal Botox, essential oils, etc. The most wanted offers are hydro massage, steam bathroom, spa massage, spa treatment, body and face peeling, Air brushing (Danish method for making skin darker, made of aloe, vitamin B and herbal essentials) , electro stimulants and standard cosmetic offers like pedicure, manicure and depilation. The steam bathroom is a good way to relax and detoxify the organism. In Spa centers is very popular to use some eucalyptus, mint and lavender oils during this treatment like aroma therapy. Of all Spa treatments, the most popular are: a king massage, massage with volcano rocks, massage with hot chocolate, face massage with crystals, and face massage with caviar. Few months ago started a Cleopatra treatment, which is a milk bath.
In contrast to Spa centers, which are devoted to relax the body and organism, Wellness centers give chance to everyone to shape their bodies as they like. Common thing for those two kinds of centers is individual work, recommendation of healthy nutrition and drinking of lot of water.
Wellness centers are different because of different body care – they recommend recreation, relaxation and revitalization of organism. There are programs for shaping the body, slimming programs and programs for getting in good shape. Most of wellness centers have modern accessories for trainings, rooms for aerobics, biking, Pilates (which is very popular in Serbia), Finnish sauna, swimming pools, etc. Everything is under control of a fitness trainer, aerobics instructor, physiotherapist, doctor and nutritionist who can advise you how to change your nutrition.
In most cases, Wellness and Spa centers are connected, and depending on your mood or need, you can choose what kind of relaxation you want. The membership fee is paid for one year, six or one month. That means that number of members is selected in those centers.
Last few years it is really hard to reserve a treatment in some of those centers, famous by its quality, in spite of the fact that the number of centers is growing. That only shows that they are necessary for citizens of Belgrade.
Law on Data Secrecy - Democratic Control, Yes or No?
By: Miodrag Stosic
Belgrade, Aug.25 ,2009 (Serbia Today) - The word Democracy literally means : an order in which the people rule. However, since societies started to grow in their complexity, the meaning of democracy has changed into a rule of representatives. They rule by the decisions of majority, and people monitor their work and control them. For the last several weeks, in Serbia, it is being worked on a Law on data secrecy, which should establish necessary public monitoring over secret services’ work.
However, even before the Government sent its proposition to the Assembly, there had been tumultuous reactions. Representatives of "Yukom" and "Belgrade Center for Human Rights" resigned from the working group that made law proposition, protesting because the standards this law brings are unacceptable for organizations that are into human rights matter. Milan Antonijević from Yukom says that this law is in contradiction with some previously adopted laws : Law on free access to information of public importance and Law on personal data protection. By Antonijević, in this new law proposition, there is a controversial article 40, which limits ombudsman’s permanent insight into public services’ data.
Two years ago, the “Coalition for access to information“ was established, and made its own law proposition. Antonijević, a member of this coalition, says that its proposition is different from the Government’s, for the Government’s proposition limits democratic control of security sector and introduced 4 new types of limitation: state secret, highly classified, classified and internal. This determines that the secrecy is under authority of Presidents of the Assembly, Government and Republic, and directors of public authority organizations.
Rodoljub Šabić, information trustee, claims that a new law in this field is necessary, but existent proposition is below any level. It’s because this law would degrade ombudsman’s position, by limiting his access to information. This matter is especially important, for ombudsman up to date had an absolute insight to information of public importance. Moreover, that matter is arranged the same way in neighboring countries. Šabić says that it is obvious what sort of data do trustee and ombudsmen need to perform their duties. A new law would equal their authorities with those of public prosecutors and other organizations that need special licenses to get insight to data.
Slobodan Homen, Secretary of the State Ministry of Justice, says that law proposition isn’t perfect, but because of that there will be a debate in the Assembly during which all the amendments will be discussed. He adds that author’s idea is to establish absolute secrecy of some data, to the extent that even President of the Republic shouldn’t know about them.
Data publicity is a topic that should be regulated in accordance with European and world standards, especially in fields of security and public purchases. Besides this law, Serbia has a problem with Law on information. These two laws regulate the same matter, that is called - Democratic Control of Government. It should be provided, because without it, there is neither open Society, nor Democracy.
Belgrade, Aug.25 ,2009 (Serbia Today) - The word Democracy literally means : an order in which the people rule. However, since societies started to grow in their complexity, the meaning of democracy has changed into a rule of representatives. They rule by the decisions of majority, and people monitor their work and control them. For the last several weeks, in Serbia, it is being worked on a Law on data secrecy, which should establish necessary public monitoring over secret services’ work.
However, even before the Government sent its proposition to the Assembly, there had been tumultuous reactions. Representatives of "Yukom" and "Belgrade Center for Human Rights" resigned from the working group that made law proposition, protesting because the standards this law brings are unacceptable for organizations that are into human rights matter. Milan Antonijević from Yukom says that this law is in contradiction with some previously adopted laws : Law on free access to information of public importance and Law on personal data protection. By Antonijević, in this new law proposition, there is a controversial article 40, which limits ombudsman’s permanent insight into public services’ data.
Two years ago, the “Coalition for access to information“ was established, and made its own law proposition. Antonijević, a member of this coalition, says that its proposition is different from the Government’s, for the Government’s proposition limits democratic control of security sector and introduced 4 new types of limitation: state secret, highly classified, classified and internal. This determines that the secrecy is under authority of Presidents of the Assembly, Government and Republic, and directors of public authority organizations.
Rodoljub Šabić, information trustee, claims that a new law in this field is necessary, but existent proposition is below any level. It’s because this law would degrade ombudsman’s position, by limiting his access to information. This matter is especially important, for ombudsman up to date had an absolute insight to information of public importance. Moreover, that matter is arranged the same way in neighboring countries. Šabić says that it is obvious what sort of data do trustee and ombudsmen need to perform their duties. A new law would equal their authorities with those of public prosecutors and other organizations that need special licenses to get insight to data.
Slobodan Homen, Secretary of the State Ministry of Justice, says that law proposition isn’t perfect, but because of that there will be a debate in the Assembly during which all the amendments will be discussed. He adds that author’s idea is to establish absolute secrecy of some data, to the extent that even President of the Republic shouldn’t know about them.
Data publicity is a topic that should be regulated in accordance with European and world standards, especially in fields of security and public purchases. Besides this law, Serbia has a problem with Law on information. These two laws regulate the same matter, that is called - Democratic Control of Government. It should be provided, because without it, there is neither open Society, nor Democracy.
New Law on Political Parties - Merging Serbian Political Scene
By: Miodrag Stosic
Belgrade, Aug 25 ,2009, (Serbia Today) - This year Serbia celebrates 20th anniversary of its pluralistic Democracy and multi-party political system. Law on elections proclaimed at that time, ceased 45 years long single-party system, and was so liberal to enable anyone to get into a political life. Only 100 signatures were needed to register a political party, and it led to a phenomenon called proliferation of Parties.
Also, the majority principle for distribution of votes, that had been used in the beginning, was replaced later by a proportional system. Ever Party passing a census gets into parliament with a number of representatives proportional to a number of votes it achieves in elections. By the time, this kind of political system created a situation in which several bigger parties were dominant. However, their relations were such that no one of them could easily form a stable parliamentary majority. That is why small parties, although of a minor significance independently, became key players in final formation of Governments. Therefore, ruling coalitions are a normal condition of Serbian political life. On one hand, they are one-step ahead in the development of Democracy, but on the other, they are an image of an unstable Government, what can be seen at making important decisions.
A situation became drastic during a few recent years, when there were many contradictions in statements that government officials, from different ruling parties used to give in media. There were disagreements on many important questions. Free riders were also present. For all mentioned reasons, in the beginning of this year, the state started working on a law that would simplify an image of a confusing Serbian political scene. In May, Assembly adopted Law on political organizations, with a minimum majority of 127 representatives.
By this Law, 10 thousand signatures, instead of 100, are needed to register a political party. Also, Law envisions severe penalties for those who try to act politically through an unregistered organization - from 5 to 500 thousand dinars. When national minority parties are concerned, Law is more liberal for them, allowing them to be registered with only 1000 signatures. These parties now can be entirely registered on their national languages.
For the mentioned reasons, a renewed registration of political parties in Serbia is ongoing. Leaders of bigger political parties in Serbia greet adoption of a new law, expressing the faith that they would easily gather 10 thousand signatures. Dragan Marković Palma, president of United Serbia, stated that his party would gather required number of signatures in a record term. Tomislav Nikolić, leader of Serbian Progressive Party, greets the law, but says that census should be even bigger to clean the situation, because by this law, after 6 months, 100 parties will remain, of which 90 percent won’t belong to a serious politics. Žarko Korać, from Liberal Democratic Party, says that this law is non-democratic, because there is no law with such a big census in the whole Europe.
The fact is that the new Law will disable activities of those Parties whose ideas do not have mass character. We should agree with a remark that a political scene in Serbia will become more serious. At least in the sense that there won’t be such parties like Yogi Flyers Party, or Rock ’n’ Roll Party in a National Register of Associations.
Belgrade, Aug 25 ,2009, (Serbia Today) - This year Serbia celebrates 20th anniversary of its pluralistic Democracy and multi-party political system. Law on elections proclaimed at that time, ceased 45 years long single-party system, and was so liberal to enable anyone to get into a political life. Only 100 signatures were needed to register a political party, and it led to a phenomenon called proliferation of Parties.
Also, the majority principle for distribution of votes, that had been used in the beginning, was replaced later by a proportional system. Ever Party passing a census gets into parliament with a number of representatives proportional to a number of votes it achieves in elections. By the time, this kind of political system created a situation in which several bigger parties were dominant. However, their relations were such that no one of them could easily form a stable parliamentary majority. That is why small parties, although of a minor significance independently, became key players in final formation of Governments. Therefore, ruling coalitions are a normal condition of Serbian political life. On one hand, they are one-step ahead in the development of Democracy, but on the other, they are an image of an unstable Government, what can be seen at making important decisions.
A situation became drastic during a few recent years, when there were many contradictions in statements that government officials, from different ruling parties used to give in media. There were disagreements on many important questions. Free riders were also present. For all mentioned reasons, in the beginning of this year, the state started working on a law that would simplify an image of a confusing Serbian political scene. In May, Assembly adopted Law on political organizations, with a minimum majority of 127 representatives.
By this Law, 10 thousand signatures, instead of 100, are needed to register a political party. Also, Law envisions severe penalties for those who try to act politically through an unregistered organization - from 5 to 500 thousand dinars. When national minority parties are concerned, Law is more liberal for them, allowing them to be registered with only 1000 signatures. These parties now can be entirely registered on their national languages.
For the mentioned reasons, a renewed registration of political parties in Serbia is ongoing. Leaders of bigger political parties in Serbia greet adoption of a new law, expressing the faith that they would easily gather 10 thousand signatures. Dragan Marković Palma, president of United Serbia, stated that his party would gather required number of signatures in a record term. Tomislav Nikolić, leader of Serbian Progressive Party, greets the law, but says that census should be even bigger to clean the situation, because by this law, after 6 months, 100 parties will remain, of which 90 percent won’t belong to a serious politics. Žarko Korać, from Liberal Democratic Party, says that this law is non-democratic, because there is no law with such a big census in the whole Europe.
The fact is that the new Law will disable activities of those Parties whose ideas do not have mass character. We should agree with a remark that a political scene in Serbia will become more serious. At least in the sense that there won’t be such parties like Yogi Flyers Party, or Rock ’n’ Roll Party in a National Register of Associations.
The Young Mothers' Issues
By: Li Novak
Belgrade,Aug.25 ,2009, (Serbia Today) - In difficult times, it is not easy to accomplish even the most natural assignments like the parenthood is. Young mothers talk for Serbia Today about situations they are falling into, after their baby’s birth.
When a young couple takes their baby from the childbirth center, they have to calculate necessary costs, and provide all the important things for the Maternity leave, provided by the state (about 24000 RSD for the first child) is not enough for all the needs. For example, only diapers cost 3000 RSD monthly.
Masa, mother of a 7 months old, says for Serbia Today: “A baby, younger than 12 months old, “costs” from 100 to 200 EU, if you don’t count the big expenses (cradle, baby carriage and similar, which you have already bought). And if you don’t count the baby sitter's salary, which is around 300 EU.” Mila Sebic, another mother of an infant, claims that the biggest expenses are in the first month, around 700 EU. If we know that the average Serbian salary is around 350 EU, it means that having a baby is a real bravery.
Ivana from Belgrade gave birth in hospital Narodni front. She is satisfied with a program “baby friendly” which is obligatory here. It means that the mother and baby are joined together from the infant’s birth. However, she is not satisfied with a hospital staff’s treatment and behavior. She says: “The third day, when I had a problem with breasts because of the milk, I was disappointed with the program's efficiency. I found out that many mothers of infants had the same problem, because the medical nurses did not provide the necessary help on time. I asked for help several times and the hospital staff kept promising to send someone, but nobody came. In general, they were unkind and didn’t have the right humane attitude towards the women who are in special physical and emotional state, because they had just given birth.”
Young mothers often have problems related with maternity leave reimbursements. Masa from Belgrade tells us about her struggle with administration, which lasted 4 months. After that, she finally got her maternity payment. She says: “I experienced much offensiveness from a clerk in the Tirsova Street, which is municipality of Vozdovac. She was sending me home, many times, for more and more “necessary” documents. A real nightmare! I even complained to her boss, but nothing had changed.” Also, there are some dishonest employers, who hold the state money for a while, instead of paying the mothers. And then, maternity reimbursements are late.
Mothers say that non of the childbirth centers have really good conditions. They complain about quality of food and especially about the medical staff's behavior. Few days after the baby’s birth, during a hormonally tumultuous period, mothers are in specific condition, emotionally and physically tired. Most of the medical nurses don’t treat young mothers with respect and humanity they deserve, don’t answer all the questions and aren’t helping enough. Because of that, a group of women spontaneously started an initiative called “Mother Courage” on the website www.majkahrabrost.com and that finally drew attention of the Ministry of Health.
Belgrade,Aug.25 ,2009, (Serbia Today) - In difficult times, it is not easy to accomplish even the most natural assignments like the parenthood is. Young mothers talk for Serbia Today about situations they are falling into, after their baby’s birth.
When a young couple takes their baby from the childbirth center, they have to calculate necessary costs, and provide all the important things for the Maternity leave, provided by the state (about 24000 RSD for the first child) is not enough for all the needs. For example, only diapers cost 3000 RSD monthly.
Masa, mother of a 7 months old, says for Serbia Today: “A baby, younger than 12 months old, “costs” from 100 to 200 EU, if you don’t count the big expenses (cradle, baby carriage and similar, which you have already bought). And if you don’t count the baby sitter's salary, which is around 300 EU.” Mila Sebic, another mother of an infant, claims that the biggest expenses are in the first month, around 700 EU. If we know that the average Serbian salary is around 350 EU, it means that having a baby is a real bravery.
Ivana from Belgrade gave birth in hospital Narodni front. She is satisfied with a program “baby friendly” which is obligatory here. It means that the mother and baby are joined together from the infant’s birth. However, she is not satisfied with a hospital staff’s treatment and behavior. She says: “The third day, when I had a problem with breasts because of the milk, I was disappointed with the program's efficiency. I found out that many mothers of infants had the same problem, because the medical nurses did not provide the necessary help on time. I asked for help several times and the hospital staff kept promising to send someone, but nobody came. In general, they were unkind and didn’t have the right humane attitude towards the women who are in special physical and emotional state, because they had just given birth.”
Young mothers often have problems related with maternity leave reimbursements. Masa from Belgrade tells us about her struggle with administration, which lasted 4 months. After that, she finally got her maternity payment. She says: “I experienced much offensiveness from a clerk in the Tirsova Street, which is municipality of Vozdovac. She was sending me home, many times, for more and more “necessary” documents. A real nightmare! I even complained to her boss, but nothing had changed.” Also, there are some dishonest employers, who hold the state money for a while, instead of paying the mothers. And then, maternity reimbursements are late.
Mothers say that non of the childbirth centers have really good conditions. They complain about quality of food and especially about the medical staff's behavior. Few days after the baby’s birth, during a hormonally tumultuous period, mothers are in specific condition, emotionally and physically tired. Most of the medical nurses don’t treat young mothers with respect and humanity they deserve, don’t answer all the questions and aren’t helping enough. Because of that, a group of women spontaneously started an initiative called “Mother Courage” on the website www.majkahrabrost.com and that finally drew attention of the Ministry of Health.
Mamma Park
By: Jelena Jovanovic
Belgrade, Aug.25 ,2009 (Serbia Today) - A part of the green space on Ada Ciganlija, one of the favorite summer spots in Belgrade, became at the beginning of this Summer, a Day Camp for small children. Mamma Park offers workshops, small schools, games and ideas for children and their parents how to spend time with other kids in beautiful surrounding.
Vesna Stanimirović,coordinator of the park and journalist of Belgrade magazine Mamma, explained that this magazine, established 12 years ago with an aim to help young parents and make things easier for them, got an idea to step out from the magazine pages and offer some outdoor contents – places where children can spend their time, entertain, associate and educate and where parents can be relaxed more than usual and be certain of their children’s safety.
Ada Ciganlija was a logical choice. It is a favorite city resort, with 300 000 visitors per day in the peak of the season, with many playgrounds and thematic parks. So, magazine Mamma , in cooperation with Public Company Ada Ciganlija, adjusted one part of Ada’s green space and made Mamma Park. Opened at the beginning of the summer, the Park has become very popular. It will be closed at the end of summer, on August 30th.
Mamma Park offers various programs, realized by experts in children education who have already cooperated with magazine Mamma. Children can attend English language school Helen Doron and read stories in English, attend small school of proper speeches, sports workshop Hercules, small dance school, creative fine arts workshop... Parents can get advices from pediatricians, nutritionists, dentists, psychologists, ophthalmologists. Yoga and fitness programs are also part of the program, as well as ecological education program, where basics about environment and its preserving are taught. In the beginning, the programs were addressed to the youngest- small and preschool children. But, older children also started to enjoy here. All programs are free and all children can participate- there is no age limits.
Vesna Stanimirovic says that in Mamma Park everyone can learn something new and have fun.
“I think that that age variety is a special allure of Mamma park. Sometimes only three children are involved in certain activity and sometimes we have more than 25 children. Children and their parents come here regularly and parents are very satisfied- they can exchange experiences with other parents and get answers and free advices from various experts”. Ljiljana Jocic, Secretary for Children Protection in the City of Belgrade, suggested a continuation of this action during winter period and relocation of Mamma park indoors, in some of Belgrade kindergartens. This idea might be realized, and the certain thing is that Mamma park will be part of Ada Ciganlija next summer and that joint project of magazine Mamma and Ada Ciganlija will be continued.
Belgrade, Aug.25 ,2009 (Serbia Today) - A part of the green space on Ada Ciganlija, one of the favorite summer spots in Belgrade, became at the beginning of this Summer, a Day Camp for small children. Mamma Park offers workshops, small schools, games and ideas for children and their parents how to spend time with other kids in beautiful surrounding.
Vesna Stanimirović,coordinator of the park and journalist of Belgrade magazine Mamma, explained that this magazine, established 12 years ago with an aim to help young parents and make things easier for them, got an idea to step out from the magazine pages and offer some outdoor contents – places where children can spend their time, entertain, associate and educate and where parents can be relaxed more than usual and be certain of their children’s safety.
Ada Ciganlija was a logical choice. It is a favorite city resort, with 300 000 visitors per day in the peak of the season, with many playgrounds and thematic parks. So, magazine Mamma , in cooperation with Public Company Ada Ciganlija, adjusted one part of Ada’s green space and made Mamma Park. Opened at the beginning of the summer, the Park has become very popular. It will be closed at the end of summer, on August 30th.
Mamma Park offers various programs, realized by experts in children education who have already cooperated with magazine Mamma. Children can attend English language school Helen Doron and read stories in English, attend small school of proper speeches, sports workshop Hercules, small dance school, creative fine arts workshop... Parents can get advices from pediatricians, nutritionists, dentists, psychologists, ophthalmologists. Yoga and fitness programs are also part of the program, as well as ecological education program, where basics about environment and its preserving are taught. In the beginning, the programs were addressed to the youngest- small and preschool children. But, older children also started to enjoy here. All programs are free and all children can participate- there is no age limits.
Vesna Stanimirovic says that in Mamma Park everyone can learn something new and have fun.
“I think that that age variety is a special allure of Mamma park. Sometimes only three children are involved in certain activity and sometimes we have more than 25 children. Children and their parents come here regularly and parents are very satisfied- they can exchange experiences with other parents and get answers and free advices from various experts”. Ljiljana Jocic, Secretary for Children Protection in the City of Belgrade, suggested a continuation of this action during winter period and relocation of Mamma park indoors, in some of Belgrade kindergartens. This idea might be realized, and the certain thing is that Mamma park will be part of Ada Ciganlija next summer and that joint project of magazine Mamma and Ada Ciganlija will be continued.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
